


Even When You're Just Standing There You Take Away My Breath

by orphan_account



Series: The Only Thing That Matters [27]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: M/M, Underage Drinking, Uni AU, hints at sansaergy, i guess, loose plot, mentions of possible gendrya
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-11
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-07-23 00:54:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7460322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jojen seemed to take a little bit more caution, slipping his bottle of whiskey into an otherwise empty back pack and slinging it over his shoulder. The situation dawned on Bran for the first time; he was going off to a university party with a bunch of older boys he didn’t know. Maybe he didn’t have as good decision making skills as his mother had always praised.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Even When You're Just Standing There You Take Away My Breath

“Okay, if you see anybody who looks like a don tell them you’re staying at a hotel.” Sansa Stark warned her brother Bran, as they moved from her apartment style dorm towards the elevator at the end of the hall. Bran looked at her in confusion. “I’m not supposed to have overnight guests during exams. So just say you’re not staying here tonight if anybody who looks like they have authority asks.”

“Yeah. Okay.” Bran agreed, nerves jumping in his stomach. He’d visited his sister here before but he’d only been formally introduced to two of her friends and now he’s going to be spending the night drinking with them. While Bran wasn’t exactly a stranger to drinking- despite being a year underaged- he’d was still somewhat nervous about these new people.

Sansa led Bran down the hall and Bran noticed how loud it had gotten in this hall compared to Sansa’s. “It’s loud.” Bran commented, looking around. There was nobody in the hall, so the noise could only be coming from inside a room- meaning they were really loud.

“Yeah.” Sansa agreed, looking troubled. She knocked on the door of room 204, the room that the noise seemed to be coming from. She caught Bran’s eyes and smiled grimly. “I was hoping it wasn’t them.”

Sansa then let herself into the room and Bran felt his eyes widen. In the room were three girls seeming extremely drunk. One of them- Alla- Bran had met when he had visited Sansa in December, and another he recognized as Margaery Tyrell from Sansa’s Facebook. Those two girls were supposed to be sharing an apartment together in the fall. The other girl Bran didn’t know, but she seemed to be the most sober as the other two girls appeared to be reaching one another to twerk.

“Marg? Margaery?” Sansa shouted over the awful music and the curly haired girl looked up excitedly.

“Sansa! I love you!” Margaery stumbled over and embraced Sansa as though they hadn’t seen each other in years. “Can we go to the house party? Gendry said there’s a house party tonight! We need to go, I wanna kiss a boy!”

“You always want to kiss a boy.” Sansa sighed patiently, removing Margaery from her body. “Everybody this is my brother Bran. Alla, you already know him.”

Alla nodded a hello to Bran while still dancing to some fast paced Taylor Swift song. While she certainly seemed drunk, there was a little twinkle in her eye that made Bran suspicious. Sansa introduced him to the third girl, Megga, who was definitely less drunk than the other two, just leaning against the counter smirking.

“Sansa!! The party??” Margaery was pouting, and not able to stand up straight. Bran wondered if Sansa’s friends normally drank like that- or if Sansa ever drank like that. It was only 9 pm and this girl was wasted.

“I said we’d meet Gendry and everyone in the common room so they could meet Bran but I dont think you need to be going to any parties.” Sansa stepped towards the door. “Actually, you should stay here while I go. You’re really drunk.”

“I’m not bloody staying here!” Margaery was slurring her words only slightly. Sansa seemed mildly irritated, similar to way she got when Arya and Jon got into the mood to pull pranks on one another. Bran looked to his sister and saw her resolve crumble- almost as though she was unable to say no to this Margaery girl.

“Fine, you can come but you have to be quiet and well behaved.” Sansa took Margaery by the hand and lead her towards the door, Alla and Megga following them like a couple of hens. It was quite a bit of a hassle to get Margaery and Alla down the hall; at one point, Alla decided to skip down the hall in the complete opposite direction and Sansa had to go chasing after her. Bran was starting to feel quite overwhelmed by the time they finally reached the common room. It was empty and Bran felt almost frustrated- he’d thought they’d brought the drunk girls to common room to meet people and nobody was there. It seemed sort of like a waste of time.

“They’re coming.” Sansa said to her brother, almost as though she could sense his fouling mood. “Sorry, I don’t know what happened. They were sober when I left them an hour ago.”

Bran hummed but then a group of four boys and one curly haired girl came in through the door on the other side of the common room. One of them, a slender blond boy, Bran had also met the last time he was here. Jojen, he thought his name was.

Jojen was looking a little red in the face, as though he’d already started drinking as well, but he stand and wasn’t acting like a fool so Bran supposed that he wasn’t drunk. In fact, it didn’t look as though any of these teens were drunk, just Margaery and Alla. Rightfully so, Bran figured, since it was so early in the night.  

Sansa was giving the girl a huge smile and brought Bran over to be introduced. “You met Jojen last time,” she said, gesturing towards the blond as he leaned up against the door. He gave Bran a quick smile, one that felt rather contagious, and Bran couldn’t help returning it. He remembered when he’d met Jojen the last time, and he’d told Sansa that he was cute. That statement definitely still rang true.  

“This is Meera, she’s Jojen’s sister.” Sansa referred to the girl, whom Bran would never have guessed was Jojen’s sister, being dark everywhere Jojen was fair. But then she smiled and Bran saw the resemblance.

“This is Gendry.” Sansa then referred to the tall, dark haired boy who had Margaery wrapped around his waist. He seemed a serious boy, and not at all impressed by the girl hanging off him. Bran remembered vaguely that Arya had quite liked Gendry when she’d come to stay with Sansa just before reading week.

Sansa introduced Bran to the two other boys: Tommen- a pudgy blond boy- and Trystane- a boy with eyes such a deep shade of brown they were almost black. Bran greeted them all but could almost feel Alla glaring daggers into their direction. She hadnt come over with Sansa and Margaery, and Bran found that odd. When he’d come to visit last, Jojen and Alla had seemed very close, Bran had actually thought they were dating until Sansa had informed him otherwise. Yet now they didn’t even acknowledge each other, leaving Bran to wonder what had happened.

“You and your brother going to the house party tonight?” Gendry asked, his voice deep and appealing- Bran could see why Arya had been so fond of him.

Sansa glanced over at Bran and shrugged. “I dont know… Bran, what do you want to do?” Bran barely got a chance to open his mouth before Margaery was slurring on about how she wants to go to the party. Gendry sighed deeply.

“You’re already wasted, Marg.” Gendry said, clearly trying to be patient. “The only placed you’re going is bed.” Margaery began to complain loudly and Bran found his eyes moving over to where Jojen stood. The boy didn’t seem impressed but his eyes were glossy as though he wasn’t paying that close attention to the goings on of his friends. Bran wished he could tune people out like he could.

“I’ll get Margaery to bed, then we can go to party.” Sansa said as she pulled Margaery from Gendry, seemingly forgotten that Bran had not mentioned whether or not he wanted to go. Bran supposed a party would be more fun than baby sitting his sister’s drunk friends.

Once Gendry and the others had left the room, Alla walked up to Bran smiling. “And now I’m completely normal.”

“What?” Bran asked, crinkling his nose. Alla just laughed and wrapped an arm around the boys shoulder.

“Would you believe I’m not actually drunk?” She asked, smirking. Bran heard Sansa make a disapproving noise from behind them.

“Why would somebody pretend to be drunk? What’s the point?” Bran asked, already having an ickling of why somebody might do such a thing. Alla didn’t answer, just turning to help Sansa with Margaery. Once they got towards the girls dorm, Sansa pulled Bran back towards the elevator.

“You’ve got it from here right Al?” Sansa put an arm around Bran and ushered him into the elevator while Alla looked on with wide eyes. “Great!”

“Where are we going?” Bran asked, shifting from one foot to another.

“To Meera’s, to wait for them to be ready for the party.” Sansa informed her be brother. “A house party sounds better than getting an AV with them.” Sansa tossed her auburn hair over her shoulder. It seemed a little darker to Bran than he remembered it being at Easter, but chose not to make a comment. He also didn’t know what an AV was, but that was another thing he decided not to mention.

Meera lived on the bottom floor of the building, in an apartment style dorm much larger than Sansa or Margaery’s. There were six, maybe seven, rooms and a gathering of young people at the kitchen table. Bran recognized Jojen and the others that had just come up to the common room, but didn’t see Meera anywhere. Gendry called out to Sansa, holding out a large bottle of some sort of alcohol. She smiled and walked towards him, refusing the drink he offered her.

Bran scratched the back of his head, feeling as though he’d suddenly become invisible. He looked over to Jojen, who was gazing into a half finished bottle of whiskey. Bran moved and took the empty seat beside him, and Jojen pushed the bottle towards him.

“Oh, no… thanks.” Bran pursed his lips. He’d always hated whiskey, even since Robb had gone through a heavy drinking phase the year before when Jeyne was taken from him. “Bad experience with that once. I dont drink it.”

“Bad experience? Are you even old enough to have bad experiences with alcohol?” Jojen laughed but pulled the bottle back anyway. “Arent you wildly underage?”

“I wouldn’t say wildly!” Bran huffed, looking irritation. Jojen laughed again and Bran resisted the urge to stick his tongue out. “I’m eighteen.”

“Hmmm…” Jojen had a certain twinkle in his eye that gave off the impression that he found everything funny. Bran liked it. “Okay then Brandon.”

Bran blinked at the formal name, surprised to hear it used so causally. “Most people just call me Bran. Except my Aunt Lysa, she doesn’t call me anything at all.”

Jojen laughed. “And why not?” Jojen seemed generally interested, so Bran decided that it couldn’t be hurtful to tell him a little bit about himself. But Bran wouldn’t blurt out his whole life story. Nope.  

“Oh, she thinks I’m a bad influence on her son Robert. It doesn’t help that I was uncle Jon’s favourite. She hated anything her husband liked.” Bran shrugged, meeting Sansa’s eyes across the table. Sansa didn’t like when people speak poorly of Aunt Lysa- She’d always had a close connection to their mother’s sister.

“You, a bad influence…” Jojen laughed again, eyes glancing around the room. “I couldn’t imagine why.” Bran felt the laughter being slightly contagious, and did so himself for a moment.

“Trust me, Robert doesn’t need any corrupting.” Sansa assured Jojen from the other side of the table.

Bran nodded, looking at the large bottle Gendry had been holding. “What is that?” He asked, taking the bottle in his hand.

“Its Kraken.” Gendry said in his deep voice. “Spiced rum and the best. Try it.”

Sansa made a small noise of protest but Bran ignored it. He glanced at the bottle. “Just drink it? Straight from the bottle?”

“Yeah, rock it!” The boy Bran remembered being introduced as Trystane laughed. Bran crinkled his nose, sniffing the drink.

Tommen reached out into the fridge and pulled out a large bottle of Coke and placed it beside Bran as well. “Shoot one, then the other,” he advised.

Bran nodded, swinging back the Kraken. It stung his mouth something awful, burning his throat as it went down but Bran forced himself not to pull a face. He didn’t want any of these people to he was weak. He uncapped the Coke and swigged it down and coughed on it.

“Ugh, that’s some nasty Coke. I don’t like that.” Bran said truthfully, the drink had been too cold for his taste. Tommen laughed loudly.

“Can’t believe your only bloody complaint was that you don’t like the pop.” Tommen thought this was the funniest thing, prompting him into giggles. Gendry wacked him in the back of the head, grinning.

“How was that, kid?” Gendry asked. It made more and more sense that Arya would be taken with him. He was attractive from a point- but not Bran’s type- and seemed to share a common humor with Arya. They would make the sort of couple their mother would hate.

Jojen leaned away from the table, answering his phone and then stepping away from them all. Gendry watched Jojen go, a concerned look crossing his face. “Dude that better not be Alla. I swear to God, Reed.”

Jojen gave Gendry a one minute signal and then plugged his own ear shut. He kept his face still and serious, not saying anything until a final “Okay” before hanging up. Jojen stuffed his phone into his back pocket, and sighed. “Sansa, Alla says you need to get better at answering your phone. Marg is throwing up and saying she wants to kill herself.”

Sansa pushed away from the table and walked to the door before seemingly realizing she’d forgotten about Bran. “Do you wanna come or stay here? I don’t know how long it’ll take…”

Bran really didn’t want to send the night baby sitting Sansa’s overly drunk friends, and these guys all seemed pretty cool- but it seemed rude to ditch his sister when the entire reason he’d come here was to spend time with her.

“Come with us, little Stark. I wanna get to know you.” Gendry smirked. “Don’t worry San, I’ll get your brother home safe.” Gendry tossed back his own shot of Kraken, without even a chaser, and Sansa looked at Bran anxiously. He nodded and she made her exit, promising to text if she got free early enough to meet up.

“Well,” Gendry coughed slightly before standing up. “Lets get out of here, losers. Tom, get my beer out of the fridge.”

Tommen pulled beers out of the fridge and stuffed some into his pockets, the others into Gendry’s. Bran watched in a queer fascination, was this what you did when you were of age? You keep beers in your pockets for anyone to see?

Jojen seemed to take a little bit more caution, slipping his bottle of whiskey into an otherwise empty back pack and slinging it over his shoulder. The situation dawned on Bran for the first time; he was going off to a university party with a bunch of older boys he didn’t know. Maybe he didn’t have as good decision making skills as his mother had always praised.

“Are we waiting for your sister?” Bran asked Jojen as the other boys walked a little bit in front of them. Jojen shrugged.

“She’ll probably skip the party and meet us for food or something later.” Jojen replied, pulling his bag up higher on his shoulders. “Meera isn’t much of a partier. Truthfully, neither am I.”

Bran gave me a bemused smile. “If you’re not a partier, then why are you going?”

“Where the squad goes, I go.” Jojen laughed lightly. It was a comforting sound. “Plus, we never end up where we say we’re going. Life is never boring with these guys.”

“Oh.” Bran replied, suddenly nervous with the realization that he had even less of an idea about where he was going. He felt Jojen clasp his shoulder and give him a small nudge.

“Don’t worry, Bran. I’ll look after you and make sure nothing bad happens to Sansa Stark’s precious little brother.” Jojen shot him a grin that Bran once again found contagious.

“Gendry promised the same thing.” Bran grinned back. “Sounds like I’m going to be well taken care of.”

A playful glimmer appeared in Jojen’s eyes. “Well sounds like a competition now, I’m going to have to take better care of you than Gendry.”

Bran glanced forward to Gendry, walking several feet in front of them. “Looks like you’re already winning, mate.”

Jojen beamed at Bran and ushered him out the front door of the building. The air was slightly chilled on Bran’s bare arms but it wasn’t unbearable so he ignored it.

Gendry turned around and came back to Bran and Jojen. “So I think Alla was faking being drunk.”

Bran raised his brow and while Jojen sighed beside him. “It wouldn’t surprise me at all if she was. Typical Alla.”

“She told me she wasn’t actually drunk. When we took Margaery back to her room she started acting completely normal.” Bran added, looking back and forth between his sister’s two friends. “But… why would somebody pretend to be drunk? It sounds attention seeking to me.”

“That’s exactly what it was, little Stark.” Gendry drapped an arm around Bran’s shoulder, jerking the younger and smaller boy into his body. “Alla is queen of seeking attention. Just ask Jojen.”

Bran glanced over at Jojen the best he could while still being smothered against Gendry’s body. “What happened with you guys? Last time I was here you guys were like besties.”

“Alla was a little too obsessed with my buddy Jojen to be healthy.” Gendry replied, still with that grin. “Jojen had to distance himself for his own sanity.”

“You didn’t like her back?” Bran asked, remembering how he’d thought they were dating the last time he’d been here.

“Alla is a little too female for my taste.” Jojen said dryly, with the barest hint of a smile. Bran left his cheeks heat up and looked down at the ground.

“And too crazy.” Gendry said, completely undercutting the moment. He cleared his throat. “Hey, yo, Tommen!! Do you know where we’re going?”

Tommen turned around and gave Gendry a large smile. “I got the address off Yik Yak.”

Bran started. “You guys are trusting information about a party that you got off an anonymous website?”

Jojen came forward and elbowed Bran lightly in the ribs. “Welcome to university, Stark.”

Bran smiled. Gendry let go of him and moved back up to talk to Tommen and Trystane, leaving Bran and Jojen alone behind them once more. Bran couldn’t say he was disappointed.

They turned on a few more streets, Bran becoming more and more interested in the buildings. They weren’t the same large Victorian style of Winterfell, but Bran thought they might be more beautiful. They had spirit even though they’re more modern.

“This is a nice town.” Bran said, smiling. Jojen looked over to him.

“I grew up here.” Jojen said, looking around. “I’m surprised you like it so much, though. The way Sansa talks about Winterfell, you’d think it’s the most beautiful place in the world.”

Bran laughed. “It is beautiful in an old fashioned way. The houses and all the buildings look like something out of a Victorian novel. It’s more modern here. I like them both, I guess.”

“Interesting.” Jojen smiled. Well, no. It was closer to a smirk and it made Bran’s stomach jump. Seven hells, this guy was attractive- Bran had forgotten. “Most people like one or the other.”

“I swing both ways.” Bran said thoughtlessly. Once the words had left his mouth, his flushed. He could feel Jojen looking at him.

“Do you now?”

Bran bit his lip. “Uhmm well… are we still talking about buildings?” Bran chanced a look at Jojen and found the blond giving him a face wide smile.

“Sure, Little Stark.” Jojen patted Bran and gestured for him to turn down on street that looked so narrowed Bran hadn’t even realized it was a street until Jojen had pointed it out. “This way.”

Bran followed without arguement as the older boys lead him through the twisting road. The houses here were definitely older, Bran noted- and all dark. He was just starting to get a little worried that these boys were leading him to his death when Gendry shouted.

“Baratheon! Where is this party you promised?” Tommen looked around the street with wide, confused eyes before shrugging.

“Its supposed to be on this street.” Tommen said.

“This street is dead mate. Nothing here.” Trystane said with a laugh. Bran looked between Tommen and the pitch black street. He had to admit, there didn’t seem to be any parties around here.

“We have our own booze.” Jojen suddenly pitched in, startling Bran. He hadn’t realized how close Jojen was. “Let’a just go down to the trains and just drink there.”

Bran looked around at Jojen, surprised again by how close the other boy was. Their noses nearly brushed. “Trains? Like a train station?”

Jojen grinned. “Sorta. It used to be a train station but it was deserted years ago. There’s still trains there though. Old ones.”

That twinged a memory inside of Bran. “Thomas the Tank Engine is actually set in dystopian society where trains are like endangered species or something… and the Land of Sodor is like this safe place for trains to go.” Bran blurted out without thinking. Jojen looked at him for a moment before smiling- this time a more genuine one and much less of a smirk.

“Well aren’t you just full of information..” Jojen shook his head, tugging on his fingers as though he suddenly didn’t know what to do with his hands. He seemed settled for pulling on his backpack straps. “But I wouldn’t call the Land of Sodor a particularly safe place for trains. Wasn’t there an entire episode dedicated to train murder?”

“Uhhh maybe? I don’t know I never watched that show.” Bran shrugged, looking around at the other boys. They were all staring at him. “What?”

“You know that Thomas the Tank Engine is set in a train dystopia but you’ve never seen the show?” Trystane burst out laughing.  Bran blushed.

“I like reading conspiracy theories.” Bran admitted. He had spent many a day scrolling through websites on all sorts of conspiracies- ridiculous ones and all sorts of good ones. Bran didn’t believe most of them but they were still an interesting read.

“9/11?” Gendry asked, raising his brow.

“Jet fuel doesn’t melt steel beams.” Bran replied, smirking. Gendry gave an approving nod before agreeing to Jojen’s ideas of the going to the trains. Jojen was still looking at Bran with a small smile like he was trying to analyze him.

“What other theories did you read? Besides ‘Bush did 9/11’?”Jojen asked as they began walking. Bran thought about it for a moment to try and pick out his favourites.

“There’s a lot of theories about the pyramids and how they were built.” Bran began.

“Aliens.” Jojen nodded. Bran nodded back.

“Yeah, that’s a usual one.” Bran agreed. “I read one that said dinosaurs helped build them.”

“Dinosaurs?” Jojen asked, scoffing slightly. “Dinosaurs died millions of years before the pyramids were built.”

“I didn’t say it was a good theory.” Bran shrugged. “There’s another one that says it was aliens, and that the aliens were cats. That’s why there isn’t much documentation about cats before Egypt and they’re suddenly worshipped like gods. Because they’re aliens.”

“Domesticated aliens.” Jojen laughed. “I like it.”

Bran beamed, suddenly feeling much more confident. “I read that Paul McCartney died like 20 years ago and instead of addressing it, they just replaced him with somebody who resembled him.”

“Can’t say I’ve ever heard that.” Jojen laughed fully this time and Bran’s stomach twisted. “I never delved much into conspiracy theories, I’ll admit. I think the extent is like… Will Smith’s character actually died in that fight mentioned in the main theme and the whole show is him in heaven.”

“Most theories behind kid shows are pretty dark.” Bran agreed, giggling slightly. Jojen shot him a grin.

“Yeah.” Jojen nodded. “Train dystopia.”

Suddenly they were both giggling. Bran’s cheeks felt warm and only felt warmer after Jojen’s hand rested on his arm. Bran felt as though he should pull away, out of courtesy, but he didn’t want to. So he didn’t. Let Jojen pull away if he didn’t want the contact anymore.

Jojen did pull away- his hand dropped down but his body moved closer to Bran’s, There arms brushed against each other, knees knocking when they walked. Bran’s blush did not deminish but he hoped it was dark enough that Jojen couldn’t tell. They went into the train yard and Bran felt like he’d never been anywhere so dark.

“You okay?” Jojen turned to Bran, who hadn’t noticed that he’d stopped walking. Bran looked at Jojen and smiled.

“Yeah, it’s just like… the light is absorbed in this place. I can’t see very well.” Bran said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. Jojen tilted his head and pulled his phone on, turning on the flashlight.

“Better?”

Bran nodded quickly, smiling. He smiled all the harder when Jojen waited for him to catch up so they could walk together.

“Aww is little Starkling afraid of the dark?” Gendry asked, popping open his beer can. Bran looked down at the ground, shuffling his feet.

“Lay off.” Jojen said, his voice oddly sharp. Bran looked up at Jojen, giving him a soft, thankful smile. Jojen gave him a half smile and nodded.

“Whatever.” Gendry rolled his eyes. “Hey, Reed, dare you to climb across that railing.”

Bran and Jojen looked over to the railing in unison, Bran barely able to see it until Jojen’s light shined on it. It was narrow and high, the rails all rusted and Sharp. Bran bit his lip and glanced at Jojen. “It’s steep.”

“I can’t go against a dare.” Jojen said, shooting Gendry a dark glare. “I dont like the idea of being Gendry’a servant for two weeks.” Gendry shot Jojen back a smirk and Jojen sighed. “Will you hold my bag?” he asked Bran.

Bran really didn’t want Jojen to climb on that ledge, it seemed too dangerous. Especially since Bran knew he’d been drinking. “I dont think you should do it.” He said, accepting Jojen’s bag anyway. He watched as Jojen ducked down and slid between two of rusted bars and attempted to balance himself on the narrow ledge. The backs of his feet didn’t fit, Bran noted, with his heart in his throat.

Jojen didn’t move all that slowly as he walked sideways across the ledge. It was like a car wreck, Bran noted, terrifying to see but impossible to look away. He wondered if he’d be able to look away if Jojen fell.

“How is he going to get back over?” Tommen asked, scratching the back of his head. Bran looked over with a start. He hadn’t even thought about Jojen getting back over. Bran was starting to feel a little too anxious about this.

“There’s a staircase on the end that leads to the street underneath.” Gendry shook his head, looking at Bran. “He can get back by following the road.”

Bran pursed his lips and held Jojen’s backpack to his chest. He watched with his heart hamming as Jojen wiggled and walked down the ledge, reaching the end and going down the steps. Bran exhaled the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. Gendry looked over, smirking.

“See, little Stark?” Gendry punched Bran in the shoulder. Bran winced and leaned away. “Nothing to it, mate.”

“Sure.” Bran said, his heart beat still not settled. He shifted from one foot to the other until Jojen came hurrying up to them from behind. One of his hands pressed against Bran’s back as he took the bag from his hands. Bran looked over to him and smiled.

“Touchy, touchy.” Trystane said in a singsong voice. Bran’s cheeks burned and he looked up at the sky. He heard Jojen give a snarky remark but didn’t pay enough attention to figure out what he was saying.

“I’m going on the train.” Gendry said suddenly, throwing his empty beer can onto the ground and crushing it with his foot. Bran and Jojen stared at him with mutual looks of surprise.

“What??” Jojen finally asked, shaking his head. Gendry just grinned and started moving towards the immobile trains.

“he’s not serious is he?” Bran asked, looking at Jojen with eyes as wide as saucers.

“No, he probably is.” Jojen sighed, slinging his bag back over his shoulder. “That’s Gendry for you.” Jojen gestured for Bran to follow him as they moved after Gendry with Tommen and Trystane.

Gendry was already on the latter that lead to the top of the trains when the others reached him. Jojen looked up and sighed. “You’re an idiot, Waters!”

“Get up here, Reed! You know you want to!” Gendry laughed, stepping onto the roof. Bran shook his head and was startled when Trystane pushed past him and started up the ladder himself.

“We’re not actually going up there, are we?” Bran asked, staring at Jojen imploringly.

“Why not?” Jojen asked, shrugging. “Whats the worst that could happen?”

“Well isn’t going up there illegal?” Bran asked, voice raising up an octave.

“I mean..  Yeah, technically.” Jojen smiled lightly. “But the cops never come around here. They know people fuck around and they don’t concern themselves with it unless people start getting hurt.”

Bran bit his lip. “Like if somebody fell off the ladder?”

Jojen nudged his shoulder, grinning. “You worry too much! Let’s make a deal. Tonight you just let life happen, and I’ll make sure you don’t get hurt.”

“Or arrested.”

“Or arrested.” Jojen agreed and Bran moved towards the ladder as Tommen reached the top. “You go first, I’ll wait behind and catch you if you fall.”

“I won’t fall.” Bran laughed cheerfully. “I was climbing before I could walk. I got this.” Bran started up the bars. He could feel the rust rubbing off on his hands. It wasn’t a nice feeling at all but Bran ignored it and kept climbing. Once he was up, he rubbed his hands against his shirt and felt Jojen come up behind him.

The other boys were all cluttered up on the end of the train, seemingly trying to take a selfie of them. Bran looked at Jojen before they moved over to join them. Jojen jumped right up with them while Bran stayed slightly off to the side. He didn’t know these boys well, and he wasn’t sure if he was wanted in their pictures.

Gendry noticed him first. “Come here little Stark! We’ll make Sansa damn jealous that we’re here and she’s stuck babysitting Margaery.”

Bran smiled, a warmth growing in his chest. He moved to stand behind Jojen, feeling a warm arm snake around him and pull him closer. Bran wasn’t sure if he was blushing again or if he’d never stopped.

Gendry held out his phone, on the Snapchat app. You couldn’t see much of there faces but the flash brightened it enough to make it obvious who they were. Gendry made the caption “in the safety of Sodor” and Bran giggled.

After a couple minutes on the train, something seemed to catch Tommen’s eye. “Oh man, is that a broom?” He bounced away from the other boys, and moved to the other end of the train. Bran couldn’t see what Tommen was going for until he turned back towards them. It was, in fact, a broom with a wooden handle and metal mouth. The bristles were hardened and stuck together but Tommen seemed fastinated by it.

“Dude you don’t need that.” Trystane said with an eye roll. Tommen puffed like a bird.

“I want it.” He said in a voice that even Bran knew meant he wasn’t going to be convinced otherwise. Jojen gave a laugh and gestured for everybody to get off the train. He went down before Bran in case Bran fell, though Bran told him he wouldn’t.

“What now?” Gendry asked, cracking open another beer. Bran watched him take a large gulp of it as though it was water. Bran had never been able to tolerate the taste of beer.

“McDonald’s.” Trystane said with excitement. “I want fries.”

“Awesome. Let’s go.” Gendry said with his booming voice, turning and marching away from the group. Jojen stared after him with wide eyes.

“Hey, Gendry, dude!” Jojen called out. “We’re going to walk there? It’s completely across town! It’ll take forever!”

“It’ll be an adventure, Jojen.” Gendry smirked. The boys all moved to follow him, and Bran was left to wonder why everybody was so quick to follow Gendry around. He didn’t seem to know all that much more than any of the rest of them but they trusted him as a leader. He wondered if there was some sort of other reason they had so much faith in them.

They walked in silence for awhile, Bran trailing slightly behind them when Jojen moved forward to seemingly get in some sort of debate with Tommen. Suddenly Gendry was appeared and laying a punch into his shoulder. Bran willed himself not to say “ow”.

“So you and Jojen seemed to be getting on well?” Gendry spoke like a question though the cock of his brow seemed to imply it was anything but.

“Jojen’s nice.” Bran said slowly, leaning away from Gendry.

“I think you should go for it.” Gendry said and Bran gave a choked cough. “What? You’re both consenting, and you’re only here one night. Have some fun.”

Bran just started shaking his head, the butterflies in his stomach going a mile a minute. “Aw, shut up.” He swatted Gendry away, who just laughed and ran up ahead.

“Hey, who wants to see if we can get into the strip bar?” Gendry asked, pushing past Bran. The others turned to look at him, all with confused expression.

“I thought we were going to McDonald’s.” Trystane asked with a small pout. Gendry reached out and patted his friend on the shoulder.

“We will, little friend. We’ve got to have some adventures before we go!” Gendry grinned and they moved towards the small building with more than a few flashing signs. Suddenly Bran stopped and pursed his lips. Jojen noticed that Bran was no longer behind him and turned around.

“What’s wrong?” Jojen asked, crinkling his nose.

“I can’t get in.” Bran said, looking down at his feet. Jojen looked at Bran for a minute before glancing over his shoulder at the club.

“Well, we’ll just have to stay out here then.” Jojen nodded and Bran gaped at him.

“You don’t have to wait with me-” Bran started, shaking his head but Jojen held his hand up to stop him.

“I’m really not all that interesting in seeing naked women anyway.” He replied with a laugh in his voice. “And it’s still a competition to see who can take better care of you.”

“Gendry is definitely losing.” Bran said, remembering how Gendry had just propose that he and Jojen hook up. Jojen shot him a million dollar smile and Bran felt one tug at his own lips. Damn, Jojen’s smile got more contagious by the minute. Bran sorta hated it, except no- he didn’t at all.

Bran’s phone signalled a text coming in and Bran pulled it out. It was from Sansa, asking why they were on trains. Bran just smiled and put his phone back into this pocket, not concerned about his sister or her motherly concerns just now. He just enjoying himself.

The others were back within a few moments and Bran gave them a quizzical look. “We had to pay to get in.” Gendry explained.

Jojen burst out laughing. “What the fuck did you expect, mate?” Gendry looked confused and Bran could feel himself smirking.

Gendry just shrugged and started marching back towards the dimly lit streets. Bran looked around, the houses in this part of town shabbier and older than the ones he and Jojen had spoken about before. They were still nice though, with big windows and large yards.

Bran could feel the heat radiating off Jojen’s body beside him. He had the sudden overwhelming urge to take hold of Jojen’s hands and settled for putting his hands in pockets instead. Gendry spun around with a face wide smile and Bran was put on edge by it.

“Playground?” Gendry asked. Jojen and Bran shot each other questioning gazes before looking over at where Gendry was gesturing. It appeared to be an old elementary school with a surprisingly impressive playground in the back of it.

“I want French fries!” Trystane called out and Gendry gave him a withering look. “We’re having an adventure, Trystane Martell, get your shit together.”

They all moved over towards the playground while Tommen sang the Adventure Time theme song underneath his breath. Bran was just starting to get annoyed by it when his eyes dropped onto the swing set off the side. He gasped without thinking about it and ran over to them. He barely noticed Tommen following him. He jumped onto the first swing and kicked out his feet to move.

Jojen walked up beside them, smiling. “You like swings?”

Bran blushed. “I do. I love them. They’re the only good things about parks.” Jojen nodded as Bran began to swing. He mentally began to have a competition with Tommen, seeing who could go the highest without actually telling Tommen that’s what he was doing. It reminded him of when he was a little kid in the backseat of his father’s car and he and Arya would pretend they were racing the other cars on the highway.

Tommen slowed down and leap off and Bran felt a little bit of nerve building up inside him. “Weak.” He called out, laughing. Jojen looked round at Bran, grinning. Tommen looked at him with wide eyes.

“What?”

“You slowed down before jumping off.” Bran said with a smirk, still swinging as high as he could. Jojen crossed his arms and was leaning against the swing set.

Tommen scoffed. “I’d like see you off from that high.”

Bran didn’t want to get off yet, but he’d been challenged now and he couldn’t back down. He flew back up to the top of the swings and leap off. A sharp pain radiated up Bran’s foot and leg after he landed but he kept himself standing almost out of pure willpower. He kept his face neutral and then smiled as Tommen walked off, seeming both impressed and disappointed. Jojen waltz over with his arms around his back and smiled.

“You alright?”

“Yes.” Bran replied instantly. Jojen raised his brow, still smiling. “Why do you ask?”

“You’re not putting any weight on your foot.” Jojen nodded towards the ground and Bran blushed slightly. He attempted to put the weight down on it and stumbled slightly.

“Don’t tell Tommen I hurt myself.” Bran said, reaching out to grab Jojen’s arm. Jojen looked down at it and then quickly looked up at Bran once more.

“Okay…but what are you going to say when they asked what happened?”Jojen glanced over to the boys climbing around the playground.

“I could tell them you beat me up.” Bran offered, smirking. Jojen looked surprised for a moment before laughing.

“Come on.” Jojen wrapped one arm around Bran’s waist and encouraged Bran to wrap an arm around his shoulder. Bran hadn’t noticed how cold he was until he made contact with Jojen’s warmer skin. “Put as much weight as you can on your ankle and I’ll support the rest of your weight.”

“You don’t have to do that.” Bran said in almost a whisper. His stomach was jumping and twisting at the touch of Jojen’s skin to his own. “They’re going to make fun of you.”

d

“Let them. I don’t care.” Jojen laughed, and they moved over to the playground. They did receive some teasing but Jojen just brushed them off so Bran did the same. Jojen was just being nice, it didn’t mean anything. When asked why they were all wrapped up together, Jojen played it off by saying Bran had been cold and Jojen was keeping him warm. Gendry had rolled his eyes at this but nobody made any other complaint. Trystane finally complained about French fries once again, and they set out to McDonald’s once again.

The walk seemed to take years, Bran’s legs burning. He felt Jojen’s grip tighten and he knew he must have started to lean on him more than before. Feeling bad, Bran forced his weight to go down on his foot and winced, biting his lip to keep back the shout. Jojen looked at him with wide, worried eyes but Bran just shook his head.

“I gotta just walk it off.” Bran said. Jojen slid his arms away from Bran’s waist but rested it on his arm in case he might need it. Gendry let out an excited cry that meant they had reached McDonald’s.

“Finally.” Bran breathed out. Jojen looked over to him, smiling. “You weren’t kidding when you said it was across town.”

“Nope.” Jojen was laughing. Bran could feel it even if he couldn’t see or hear it. “On the plus side, it’s actually not that far from Sansa’s dorm so we’ll get you home soon so you can put some ice on that.”

Bran giggled. “Sansa is going to go all mother hen on me.”

Jojen nodded.“It’s okay. Gendry was the one who promised her he’d take care of you.” Bran knocked his shoulder against Jojen’s. The McDonald’s inside was more- high tech than Bran was used to. The soda fountains only seemed complicated and everybody was expected to order from machines. Bran looked around with wide eyes.

The McDonald’s was cold and Bran was shivering by the time their food came. Without warning, Jojen reached over and put his arms around Bran, pulling him close to spread warmth through them. Bran wanted to look at him but knew if he did, their faces would be too close. So he kept his face forward, trying not to blush, and made conversation with Trystane.

“Oi, mate, Meera wants us to head back to the dorm.” Tommen said suddenly, looking up from his phone. On that call they all gathered up their food and Bran realized then who really called the shots in their little group. Bran shivered all the way back to the dorms where Sansa and Meera both lived, feeling Jojen’s arms around him fully. It took only a few minutes for them to reach the dorms, surprising Bran as it had felt as though they’d travelled so far from them in the hours since he’d left Sansa.

When they stopped outside the building, Jojen let him go. He looked at his friends and nodded. “Well guys, I’m going to head home. Gotta get up early tomorrow and finish my packing to go home.”

A sad tinge hit Bran’s heart and he frowned slightly. “But Meera wanted you to come over?”

Jojen laughed. “I’m afraid of Meera.”

“He’s the only one who isn’t.” Trystane added in. “We’ll tell her exactly why you bailed on her, don’t worry Reed.”

Jojen laughed, moving forward to punch Trystane. He stumbled into Bran on his step back and Bran felt Jojen’s hand slip into his back pocket. Jojen saluted his friends in an adorably dorky way that made Bran smile.

Once inside, Bran reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper. Unfolding it, Bran saw eight numbers and couldn’t keep the smile off his face.


End file.
